Free Republic

The Red Ball Project is making its first stop of the year on the Central Coast. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History is bringing the exhibit to town for a five day tour. The 15-foot inflatable sculpture by artist Kurt Perschke has visited three continents and more than 26 cities. It'll make its way around Santa Cruz County after starting at the wharf on Tuesday. Full schedule: Tuesday, June 8 | Santa Cruz Wharf -- 21 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz Wednesday, June 9 | Del Mar Theater in Downtown Santa Cruz -- 1124 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz Thursday,...

Inflation may look like a problem that will go away, but is more likely to persist and lead to a crisis in the years ahead, according to a warning from Deutsche Bank economists. In a forecast that is well outside the consensus from policymakers and Wall Street, Deutsche issued a dire warning that focusing on stimulus while dismissing inflation fears will prove to be a mistake if not in the near term then in 2023 and beyond. The analysis especially points the finger at the Federal Reserve and its new framework in which it will tolerate higher inflation for the...

UPDATE: Man accused of killing Fargo middle schooler will face murder charge Jupiter Paulsen was skateboarding from her father's house to her mother's house around 7 a.m. on Friday, June 4, when she was randomly attacked, according to her father and court documents.

Police arrest Juan Remy Quignolot after finding weapons, military fatigues and foreign currency at his residenceA French national has been charged with espionage in the Central African Republic (CAR), a month after he was arrested with a cache of weapons and ammunition at his home, attorney-general Eric Didier Tambo said on Wednesday. Police arrested Juan Remy Quignolot, 55, in May after finding weapons, military fatigues and foreign bank notes at his residence in the capital Bangui. Authorities accused him of having aided and trained rebel fighters since 2013. The gold- and diamond-producing nation of 4.7-million people has seen repeated bouts...

Even prior to his first day in office, Donald Trump was labeled a threat to democracy, an absurd Orwellian claim that continued throughout his four years. What democracy threat? Were there no continuing elections--national, state, and local--during those years? Of course there were. And our democracy has two other branches of government—Congress and the judiciary. The House declared war on Trump almost from day one. But the alleged tyrant could not stop the endless investigations. Maxine Waters urged Americans to harass Trump people whenever they can—and they did. And while Trump was able to make important appointments, the judiciary ruled...

Graphical abstract. Credit: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.05.004 A solar cell developed by physicists from the University of Luxembourg and Uppsala University has recently been certified with an efficiency of 14%, which comes close to the world record of 15.5%. These new findings have been recently accepted for publication in the international journal of energy research Joule. Solar cells technology has seen significant progress over the last decades, putting solar cells among the lowest cost sources of electricity in central Europe. Solar cells have fundamental physical limitations, and they can never be 100% efficient. Promising new technologies Materials for solar cells are always a...

A Florida high school halted the distribution of its yearbook over a section dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement. David Fleischer, who is the yearbook adviser at West Broward High School in Pembroke Pines, said the students were told that they had to stop handing out the yearbooks on Friday to allow school officials to review concerns about two pages that covered the racial justice movement, CNN reported. “I found out that it was because there were some complaints from teachers and from parents about the content of the BLM page,” Fleischer told the outlet. “That it didn’t seem...

If slaves could be whisked suddenly to modern America, they would be dumbfounded by people who use slavery – 156 years “after freedom broke” – to create the illusion that white oppression still cripples blacks at every turn. They’d see Oprah, Obama, black mayors, black police chiefs, black surgeons, black attorneys, black scientists, athletes, astronauts, and entrepreneurs, and wonder if something magical happened in America. It did. Freedom. Still, Ibram X. Kendi wrote the column, “We’re Still Living and Dying in the Slaveholders’ Republic,” for The Atlantic in May. Calls to lift the COVID-19 stay-at-home policy, he wrote, is an...

The 20-year-old black man who was fatally shot by a Minnesota police officer during a traffic stop in April was allegedly involved in an armed carjacking and violent assault three weeks before he was killed, according to a new lawsuit. Daunte Wright — who was killed when Officer Kim Potter mistook her gun for a Taser — and an accomplice allegedly jumped 20-year-old Joshua Hodges on March 21 while he was sitting in his car in north Minneapolis, the court papers state.

It's nationwide knowledge that in early May the Colonial Pipeline company suffered a severe cyberattack that shut down its pipeline connecting Texas to the East Coast. On June 1, JBS Foods suffered another crippling cyberattack. According to industry estimates, JBS controls 20 percent of the slaughtering capacity for American cattle and hogs. The JBS attack also generated headlines. The FBI and security officials believe two criminal organizations conducted the attacks. Their names sound a bit like those of the sinister super gangs found in James Bond novels. However, these gangs aren't fiction nor are their crimes. A crime group called...

If we all begin the same exercise routine tomorrow, some of us will become much fitter, others will get a little more in shape, and a few of us may actually lose fitness. Individual responses to exercise can vary that wildly and, until now, unpredictably. But a fascinating new study of more than 650 men and women suggests that the levels of certain proteins in our bloodstreams might foretell whether and how we will respond to various exercise regimens.The study needs replication and expansion, but represents a meaningful start toward a blood test to indicate the best types of exercise...

Breaking911 @Breaking911 #BREAKING: Police did not clear D.C.'s Lafayette Park of protestors so Trump could hold a photo op, Gov't probe says - https://breaking911.com/breaking-police-did-not-clear-d-c-s-lafayette-park-of-protestors-so-trump-could-hold-a-photo-op-govt-probe-says/ 12:59 PM · Jun 9, 2021 1.5K 132 Share this Tweet ============================================================================= We found that the USPP had the authority and discretion to clear Lafayette Park and the surrounding areas on June 1. The evidence we obtained did not support a finding that the USPP cleared the park to allow the President to survey the damage and walk to St. John’s Church. Instead, the evidence we reviewed showed that the USPP cleared the park to allow...

The full extent of an unprecedented FBI effort to beat the criminal underworld at its own encrypted-communications game became clearer Tuesday following a two-day takedown, with some 800 arrests worldwide and San Diego racketeering indictments against 17 high-level targets, according to federal authorities. Dubbed Operation Trojan Shield, the effort was largely led by FBI agents and federal prosecutors in San Diego who covertly created a closed-loop encryption cellphone service, called ANØM, and then convinced trusted voices already embedded in criminal syndicates to distribute the customized phones. The agents secretly read each message that poured in — 27 million in all....

After getting drafted in the mid-1960s as the Vietnam War intensified, I saw all my fellow Soldiers as “olive drab green.” Despite my childhood immigration from Nicaragua, going back there didn’t cross my mind. Nor did fleeing to Canada like about 125,000 draft dodgers. Ironically, my father who came to California from Nicaragua in the 1940s was also conscripted and saw combat in Europe for two years. Following the war, he returned to Central America for me and my mother so we could move to San Francisco and pursue the American dream. I worked hard in the corporate and government...

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily” that the Republican attacks on him are “painfully ridiculous” and attacks on “science and the truth.” Anchor Chuck Todd said, “I want to get to the political attacks. You have become— you’ve been sort of become a character on the right. There is some really wild conspiracies. I got to play one because it’s a sitting United States Senator Marsha Blackburn. I think we have a sound of this. Let’s play that one.”

Meghan Markle became physically closer to her family members when she and Prince Harry moved to California last year, but that doesn't mean there's room for reconciliation – so says a family source. In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stunned fans and their own families with their decision to step back as senior working members of the British royal family and move to North America to pursue independent work. It's been almost a year since the couple settled down at a property in Montecito, Calif., located in Santa Barbara County. Although Markle once again lives on the same...

“I’m looking at California’s 4th District to run against Tom McClintock (R). I split my time between Truckee, Calif., and Bell Canyon and the Republicans have basically had a strong arm there in the 4th District.” McClintock won reelection last year with 56 percent of the vote against Democrat challenger Brynne Kennedy. “It’s going to take someone with, I think, name recognition and deep pockets to be able to run against McClintock, and so I’m considering it. I’m basically gathering information right now, speaking to different consultants, speaking to the community,” Milano said. “I would love to maybe consider flipping...

@FLOTUSUnited States government official Prepping for the G7. Pic...

CHINA and India continue to build up their military forces along their disputed border in the Himalayas, as fears grow of an imminent war between the Asian superpowers. Last June saw the first deadly outbreak of fighting between the two sides since 1975 in the Galwan Valley. Soldiers confronted each other with weapons, including clubs and sticks, leading to the death of at least 20 Indians and four Chinese. The root cause of the conflict lies in an ill-defined, 3,440km (2,100-mile)-long border that both countries dispute, known as the Line of Actual Control Tensions have continued to rise between the...